Delay locked loop circuit with duty cycle correction function

ABSTRACT

A delay locked loop (DLL) circuit having a structure in which a method of performing duty cycle correction (DCC) using two DLLs and an intermediate phase composer and a method of performing DCC by forming a closed loop using a negative feedback are combined with each other is provided. The DLL circuit includes a first DLL for receiving an external clock signal and generating a first clock signal and a second DLL for receiving an external clock signal and generating a second clock signal. The first clock signal and the second clock signal are synchronized with an external clock signal. The DLL circuit further includes an intermediate phase generation circuit for receiving the first and second clock signals and generating an intermediate phase clock signal and a DCC loop for receiving the intermediate phase clock signal and generating an output clock signal. The intermediate phase clock signal has an intermediate phase between the phases of the first and second clock signals. The output clock signal is generated through correction of the duty cycle of the intermediate phase clock signal using a value obtained by integrating the output clock signal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a delay locked loop circuit with a dutycycle correction function.

2. Description of the Prior Art

As generally known in the art, the present invention may particularly beapplied to semiconductor memory apparatuses requiring delay locked loopcircuits, however, it may also be used for all kinds of semiconductorapparatuses and computer systems requiring delay locked loop circuits.

A delay locked loop (DLL) is a clock generating apparatus forcompensating for skew between an external clock and data or an externalclock and an internal clock. A conventional DLL with a duty cyclecorrection (DCC) function is divided into two methods of application.One is a method of realizing negative feedback using a DCC integrator.The other is an open loop method without feedback only in a DCC aspect,in which one more DLL is used.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a DLL circuit with a DCC loop realized bythe first method. As illustrated in FIG. 1, when an external clock(extclk) is input to a DLL 101, a clock (clkin) whose phase is differentfrom that of the external clock (extclk) by a predetermined amount isgenerated by the DLL 101 and is provided to a DCC loop 103. In FIG. 1, aloop for feeding back a clock signal (clkout) is a component of the DCCloop 103. However, the loop is illustrated to be separate from the DCCloop 103 in order to clearly represent that a feedback loop exists. Theduty cycle of the clock clkin is compensated for by the DCC loop 103.The output clock clkout generated as a result is provided to the outsidethrough an output port of a DLL circuit 100.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a differentialmethod of a DLL circuit in FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, CLK and CLKb denotedifferential signals of an external clock signal. The differentialsignal CLKb is obtained by inverting the differential signal CLK. IN andInb denote differential signals of a clock clkin. The differentialsignal Inb is obtained by inverting the differential signal IN. OUT andOUTb denote differential signals of the output clock clkout. Thedifferential signal OUTb is obtained by inverting the differentialsignal OUT. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the DLL 101 includes a variabledelay line 201 and a phase determiner 209. The DCC loop 103 includes adifferential DCC amplifier 203, a level correction amplifier 205, and aDCC integrator 207. An input buffer 211 for converting a clock signalinput from the outside into a signal level for an internal circuit canbe further included. The phase determiner 209 receives external clocksCLK and CLKb and output clocks OUT and OUTb and determines a phasedifference between the external clocks and the output clocks, to thusgenerate a control signal CTRL for controlling a delay amount in avariable delay line 201. In general, the variable delay line 201 delaysthe external clocks CLK and CLKb by the delay amount determined by acontrol signal CTRL so that the external clocks CLK and CLKb have thesame phases as those of the output clocks OUT and OUTb. The delayedclocks IN and Inb are provided to a differential DCC amplifier 203forming the DCC loop 103 in order to compensate for the duty cycle.

The operation of the DCC loop 103 will now be described with referenceto FIG. 3. FIG. 3A illustrates the DCC loop in FIG. 2 for theconvenience of understanding. FIG. 3B illustrates waveforms of theoperations of the DCC loop. When the duty ratios of the clocks IN andInb are not 50%, a DCC integrator 207 integrates the output clocks OUTand OUTb, to thus generate voltage signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb)reflecting the output clocks OUT and OUTb, and provides the voltagesignals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) to the differential DCC amplifier 203. Thedifferential DCC amplifier 203 controlled by the voltage signals V_(DCC)and V_(DCCb) applies different direct current voltages to high intervalsand low intervals of the clocks IN and Inb, to thus generate clocksIN_(DCC) and IN_(DCCb). As illustrated in FIG. 3B, in the clocksIN_(DCC) and IN_(DCCb), high levels and low levels have different valuesbut the same period. Hereinafter, the clocks IN_(DCC) and IN_(DCCb) arereferred to as “interval correction clock signals”. An output buffer (ora level correction amplifier) 205 receives the clocks IN_(DCC) andIN_(DCCb) and causes the absolute values of the high level and the lowlevel to be equal, to thus generate the output clocks OUT and OUTb.Hereinafter, the clocks OUT and OUTb are referred to as “levelcorrection clock signals”. The level correction amplifier 205 operatesas an output buffer. Accordingly, the duty cycle is compensated for by aDCC loop 300.

FIG. 4A is a circuit diagram of an example of the DCC integrator 207 inFIG. 3. FIG. 4B illustrates a waveform of the operation of the DCCintegrator. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, the DCC integrator 207 mayinclude two current sources I_(DCC), two switches S_(L) and S_(H), and acapacitor C1 or C2. When the output clock OUT is used for controllingswitches, the switch S_(L) is turned on in a low interval of the outputclock OUT and the switch S_(H) is turned on in a high interval. It ispossible to control switches using the output clock OUTb. When theoutput clock OUT is used for controlling the switches S_(L) and S_(H)and a low interval is longer than a high interval as illustrated in FIG.4B in the output clock OUT, the time for which the switch S_(L) isturned on is longer than the time for which the switch S_(H) is turnedon. Therefore, charges are accumulated in the capacitor C1. Accordingly,the magnitude of the voltage signal V_(DCC) gradually increases.Meanwhile, because charges are discharged from the capacitor C2, themagnitude of the voltage signal V_(DCCb) gradually decreases. When theduty cycle is not adjusted, the voltage signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb)change in proportionate to the duty cycle. When the duty cycle isadjusted, the voltage signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) do not change andmaintain a certain value.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of an example of the differential DCCamplifier in FIG. 3. FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of an example of anoutput buffer. Such a method has an advantage of obtaining a high levelof correctness but has a disadvantage of increasing errors as afrequency becomes lower because locking time is long and an applicablebandwidth is not very wide. This is because toward low frequenciesΔV_(DCC(b)) or ΔV_(DcCb), corresponding to a duty cycle error, becomeslarger beyond an allowable range toward a low frequency.

FIG. 7A is a block diagram of a DCC circuit using two duty locked loops,which is realized by a second method. FIG. 7B illustrates waveforms ofthe operations of the DCC circuit. The DCC circuit according to thepresent method includes two DLLs 601 and 603 and an intermediate phasegenerator 605 as illustrated in FIG. 7A. The DLL 601 outputs a clock(clk1) for the external clock (extclk). The DLL 603 outputs a clock(clk2). The clock (clk1) is obtained by inverting the clock clk2. Asillustrated in FIG. 7B, the clock clk1 and the clock clk2 have arelationship in which the high level start edge, the rising edge of alevel with a duty of (50−Δ)% in the clock clk1, and the low level startedge, the falling edge of a level with a duty of (50+Δ)% in the clockclk2, occur at the same point of time. The two clocks clk1 and clk2generated from a DLL block 607 are provided to an intermediate phasegenerator 605. A clock clkout having an intermediate phase between thetwo clocks clk1 and clk2 is generated from the intermediate phasegenerator 605. As illustrated in FIG. 7B, the rising edge of the clockclkout is generated the moment that the rising edge of the clock clk1and the falling edge of the clock clk2 are generated. The falling edgeof the clock clkout has an intermediate phase between the falling edgeof the clock clk1 and the rising edge of the clock clk2. What isimportant is that gate delay in the intermediate phase generator 605 isnot considered. In this method, a DCC function is completed throughcomposing of the outputs of the two DLLs 601 and 603. This method is anopen loop method only in a DCC aspect. That is, a feedback loop ofcorrecting duty errors little by little, monitoring the duty errors, andmaking certain that an amount needing correction does not exist.

FIG. 8A is a detailed block diagram of an example of the DCC circuit inFIG. 7. FIG. 8B illustrates waveforms of the operations of the DCCcircuit. The first DLL 601 of FIG. 7 includes a first delay line 801 anda first phase determiner 803. The second DLL 603 includes a second delayline 805 and a second phase determiner 807. A buffer 811 of an outputport can be omitted if necessary or may have another type. A first dummydelay 813 is inserted into the loop of the second DLL 603 in order tomodel the time delay of a clock signal in an intermediate phasegenerator 809. A second dummy delay 815 is inserted into the loop of thesecond DLL 603 in order to model the time delay of a clock signal in anoutput buffer 811. When the differential signals CLK and CLKbcorresponding to the external clock extclk are provided to an inputbuffer 817, the input buffer 817 converts the clock signals CLK and CLKbinto an internal clock rCLK suitable for an internal circuit andprovides the clock signals CLK and CLKb to the first and second delaylines 801 and 805. The internal clock rCLK is delayed by the first andsecond delay lines 801 and 805 for a predetermined time, becomes theclock clk1 and the clock clk2, and is input to the intermediate phasegenerator 809. The external clock CLK is provided to the first phasedeterminer 803 and the second phase determiner 807. The first phasedeterminer 803 receives the output clock clkout and determines a phasedifference between the external clock CLK and the output clock clkout,to thus generate a first control signal CTRL1 for displaying the phasedifference, and provides the first control signal CTRL1 to the firstdelay line 801. A delay amount in the first delay line 801 of theinternal clock rCLK is determined by the control signal CTRL1. Thesecond phase determiner 807 receives a feedback clock fbclk2 obtained bythe clock clk2 generated by the internal clock rCLK being delayedthrough the second delay line 805 passing through the first dummy delay813 and the second dummy delay 815. The first dummy delay 813 does nothave a function of generating a signal having an intermediate phasebetween the received two signals, however, is a circuit for modelingtime delay of a clock in the intermediate phase generator 809. Thesecond dummy delay 815 is a circuit for modeling time delay of a clockin an output buffer 811. The second phase determiner 807 detects a phasedifference between the external clock CLK and the feedback clock fbclk2,generates a second control signal CTRL2 corresponding to the phasedifference, and provides the second control signal to the second delayline 805. The delay amount of an internal clock Rclk2 in the seconddelay line 805 is determined by the second control signal CTRL2. A smallcircle toward the output port means inversion of a signal in the seconddelay line 805. Therefore, the second delay line 805 delays the invertedinternal clock rCLK for a predetermined time. As illustrated in FIG. 8B,the circuit of FIG. 8A is formed so that the high level of the startedge, the rising edge of a level with a duty of (50−Δ)% in the clockclk1, and the low level of the start edge, the falling edge of a levelwith a duty of (50+Δ)% in the clock clk2, occur at the same point oftime. The rising edge of the output clock clkout is generated with atime difference corresponding to gate delays at the intermediate phasegenerator 809 and the output buffer 811 from the rising edges of theclocks clk1 and clk2. The falling edge is also generated with the timedifference in an intermediate phase between the falling edge of theclock clk1 and the falling edge of the clock clk2.

The intermediate phase generator 809 is a kind of phase composer. FIG.9A is a circuit diagram of an example of a non-differential method. FIG.9B illustrates waveforms of the operations of the intermediate phasegenerator 809, which are generated at the point of time where the widthsof the received two clocks are the same and the rising edge and thefalling edge are different from each other. FIG. 9C illustrateswaveforms of the operations of the intermediate phase generator 809,which are generated at the point of time where the widths of thereceived two clocks are different and the rising edge and the fallingedge are the same as each other. As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the presentcircuit is only formed from an inverter. In FIG. 9A, a part 901 markedwith a dotted line corresponds to the intermediate phase generator. Theremaining parts are for easily understanding the operation of thepresent circuit. When the phase of an input signal φ_(Ain) leads thephase of another input signal φ_(Bin), output waveforms are asillustrated in FIG. 9B. The phase of an output signal φ_(AB) can beadjusted to the middle of the remaining two phases φ_(A) and φ_(B). Asillustrated in FIG. 9C, the phases of the rising edges coincide and thephases of the falling edges are different from each other. The resultillustrated in FIG. 9C can be obtained. The gate delay was notconsidered in FIGS. 9B and 9C. FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustratingan example of a differential method of an intermediate phase generator.In FIG. 10, k may have a real number value no less than 0 and no morethan 1 as a phase composition weight value. When an intermediate phasegenerator 1000 is an ideal linear circuit, it is possible to obtain adesired intermediate phase when k=0.5.

As noted from the above, according to the second method, an additionaltime for DCC locking is not necessary because the DCC function isrealized by using one more DLL. The second method can be easily realizedby a digital or non-differential method. However, the characteristic ofthe intermediate phase generator is not actually linear. It is notpossible to avoid the DCC errors generated by changes in voltage andtemperature. Also, such errors increase toward low frequencies.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and an object ofthe present invention is to provide a delay locked loop (DLL) circuitwhere a locking time is relatively short.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a DLL circuit witha duty cycle correction (DCC) function, in which a locking time isrelatively short and which is capable of obtaining high correctness.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a DLLcircuit with a DCC function, in which a range of an applicable frequencyis relatively wide.

In order to accomplish these objects, there is provided a delay lockedloop (DLL) circuit with a duty cycle correction (DCC) function,comprising a first DLL for receiving an external clock signal andgenerating a first clock signal and a second DLL for receiving anexternal clock signal and generating a second clock signal. The firstand second clock signals are synchronized with an external clock signal.The second clock signal is obtained by inverting the first clock signal.The DLL circuit with the DCC function further comprises an intermediatephase generation circuit for receiving the first and second clocksignals and generating an intermediate phase clock signal as well as aDCC loop for receiving the intermediate phase clock signal andgenerating an output clock signal. The intermediate phase clock signalhas an intermediate phase between those of the first and second clocksignals. The output clock signal is generated through correction of aduty cycle of the intermediate phase clock signal using a value obtainedby integrating the output clock signal. According to such a structure,the above-described first conventional method of performing DCC byforming a closed loop using a negative feedback is combined with theabove-described second conventional method of performing DCC using twoDLLs and an intermediate phase composer. Accordingly, it is possible toobtain the advantages of the two methods. That is, it is possible toobtain a short locking time, high correctness of duty cycle correction,and a wide applicable bandwidth.

Preferably, a start edge of a level having a duty of (50−Δ)% in thefirst clock signal and a start edge of a level having a duty of (50+Δ)%in the second clock signal are generated at the same point of time or astart edge of a level having a duty of (50+Δ)% in the first clock signaland a start edge of a level having a duty of (50−Δ)% in the second clocksignal are generated at the same point of time. Accordingly, it ispossible to avoid a case where only a clock signal of an intermediatephase is generated by an intermediate phase generation circuit, whilemaintaining a phase difference between two clock signals provided to theintermediate phase generation circuit. That is, according to such acharacteristic, a phase difference between two clock signals provided tothe intermediate phase generation circuit is gradually reduced.Accordingly, a probability of generating errors is reduced.

The DCC loop comprises a DCC integrator for receiving and integratingthe output clock signal, to thus generate a duty cycle control signaland a DCC amplifier for receiving the intermediate phase clock signaland generating an interval adjusted clock signal. The interval adjustedclock signal is obtained by separately amplifying the high interval andthe low interval of the intermediate phase clock signal according to theduty cycle control signal. The DCC amplifier is a circuit for applying alarger voltage to the high interval of the intermediate phase clocksignal than a voltage applied to the low interval of the intermediatephase clock according to the duty cycle control signal. The DCC loop mayfurther comprise a level correction amplifier for generating a leveladjusted clock signal by receiving and amplifying an interval adjustedclock signal. The level adjusted clock signal causes the absolute valuesof the high level and the low level to have the same value in theinterval adjusted clock signal. The duty cycle control signal does notchange when the duty of the output clock signal is 50%.

Preferably, the DLL circuit further comprises a small swing buffer forgenerating a small swing output clock signal by receiving the outputclock signal and reducing swing width of the output clock signal andproviding the small swing output clock signal to the DCC integrationcircuit as an output clock signal. Accordingly, it is possible to easilymaintain linearity in a DCC integrator commonly realized by an analogcircuit.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a DLL circuit witha DCC function comprises a phase mixing circuit for receiving the firstand second clock signals and a phase mixing weight control signalinstead of an intermediate phase generation circuit and the DCC loop andmixing the phase of the first clock signal with the phase of the secondclock signal according to the phase mixing weight control signal and aDCC integration circuit for receiving and integrating the output clocksignal, generating an integration value signal, and providing theintegration value to the phase mixing circuit as the phase mixing weightcontrol signal.

Preferably, the DLL circuit further comprises a phase mixing controlcircuit for receiving the integration value signal, converting theintegration value signal by a predetermined method, generating aconverted integration value signal, and providing the convertedintegration value signal to the phase mixing circuit as the phase mixingweight control signal. Accordingly, it is possible to adopt more varioustypes of phase mixing circuits because it is possible to apply theoutput of a DCC integrator to the phase mixing circuit by appropriatelyconverting the output without directly applying the output of the DCCintegrator to the phase mixing circuit.

Preferably, the DLL circuit further comprises a first phase splitter forreceiving the output clock signal and generating a first phase-splitoutput clock signal and a second phase-split output clock signal havinga phase difference of 180°. The DCC integration circuit is adifferential circuit for receiving and integrating the first and secondphase split output clock signals. Accordingly, it is possible toincrease correctness of circuit operation because it is possible toremove a common mode signal such as noise.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional delay locked loop (DLL)circuit with a duty cycle correction (DCC) loop;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a differentialmethod of the DLL circuit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates the DCC loop in FIG. 2 and waveforms of theoperations of the DCC loop;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram of the DCC integrator in FIG. 3 andillustrates a waveform of the operation of the DCC integrator;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram of an example of the differential DCCamplifier in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of an example of the level correctionamplifier in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a conventional DCC circuit using two dutylocked loops and illustrates waveforms of the operations of the DCCcircuit using two duty locked loops;

FIG. 8 is a detailed block diagram of the DCC circuit in FIG. 6 andillustrates waveforms of the operations of the DCC circuit;

FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of thenon-differential method of the intermediate phase generator in FIG. 7and illustrates waveforms of the operations of the intermediate phasegenerator;

FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of the differentialmethod of the intermediate phase generator in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a DLL circuit with a DCC functionaccording to an embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a DLL circuit with a DCC functionaccording to another embodiment according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example using a phase mixerof a non-differential method in the DCC loop in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of another embodiment, where a phase mixercontroller is added to the DCC loop of FIG. 13, a circuit diagram of aphase mixer controller, and a circuit diagram of a phase mixer;

FIG. 15 is a block diagram of still another embodiment where a smallswing buffer is added to the DCC loop of FIG. 14 and a circuit diagramof the small swing buffer;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of still another embodiment where adifferential DCC integrator is used for the DCC loop of FIG. 15 and acircuit diagram of a phase splitter;

FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram of another example of the phase splitter inFIG. 16; and

FIG. 18 is a modification using a phase mixer of a differential methodfor the DCC loop of FIG. 12, a block diagram where only a phase mixer isperforming according to a differential method, a block diagram where aphase mixer and a buffer are a differential method, and a circuitdiagram of a phase mixer a differential method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the followingdescription and drawings, the same reference numerals are used todesignate the same or similar components, and so repetition of thedescription on the same or similar components will be omitted.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a delay locked loop (DLL) circuit with aduty cycle correction (DCC) function according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. As illustrated in FIG. 11, a DLL circuit according tothe present embodiment includes a DLL block 1104 including two DLLs 1101and 1103, an intermediate phase generator 1105, and a DCC loop 1107.That is, a conventional DCC circuit including the two DLLs 1101 and 1103and the intermediate phase generator 1105 and a conventional DCC circuitincluding the DCC loop 1107 are combined with each other.

The circuit of FIG. 11 operates as follows. A front part including thetwo DLLs 1101 and 1103 and the intermediate phase generator 1105 is thesame as illustrated with reference to FIG. 8. A rear part including theDCC loop 1107 is the same as illustrated with reference to FIG. 3. Asdescribed with reference to FIG. 8, the first DLL 1101 receives anexternal clock extclk and provides a clock clk1 synchronized with theexternal clock extclk to the intermediate phase generator 1105. Thesecond DLL 1103 generates a clock clk2 and provides the clock clk2 tothe intermediate phase generator 1105. The clock clk1 and the clock clk2are in a relationship where falling edges or rising edges aresimultaneously generated as illustrated in FIG. 8B. The intermediatephase generator 1105 receives the two clocks clk1 and clk2 and generatesa clock clk_(—)hpg having an intermediate phase. The output clock of theintermediate phase generator 1105 has a waveform whose duty cycle ismore often corrected than the duty cycles of the clocks clk1 and clk2 asmarked with clkout in FIG. 8B. Locking time is short because the dutycycle is corrected in a procedure of composing an intermediate phasefrom the outputs of the two DLLs 1101 and 1103 without passing through afeedback circuit. Because the DCC loop 1107 only has to correct theerror of an output clk_(—)hpg of the intermediate phase generator 1105,the burden is much less than that of the DCC circuit including only theDCC loop. Therefore, an overall circuit has a short locking time and ausable frequency band is wider.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a DLL circuit with a DCC functionaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. The embodimentis a method of including the intermediate phase generator 1105 in FIG.11 in the DCC loop 1107. By doing so, it is possible to make a circuitsimpler than the simple combination type of FIG. 11. An output buffer1207 is omitted or may constitute another type.

A phase mixer 1205 is similar to the intermediate phase generator 1105,however, it is different from the intermediate phase generator 1105 inthat a degree, to which the received two clocks clk1 and clk2 affect aphase composition procedure, varies according to a phase compositionweight value k. When gate delay in the phase mixer 1205 is ignored, forexample, when k=1, the output of the phase mixer 1205 has the same phaseas that of the clock clk1. When k=0.5, the output of the phase mixer1205 has an intermediate phase between the two clocks clk1 and clk2.When k=0, the output of the phase mixer has the same phase as that ofthe clock clk2. The output clock clkout is fed back and is provided to aDCC integrator 1209. The DCC integrator 1209 generates a direct current(DC) voltage according to a duty cycle by integrating the output clockclkout as previously illustrated with reference to FIG. 4 and providesthe DC voltage to the phase mixer 1205, t thus control the phase-mixedweight value k in the phase mixer 1205. As illustrated with reference toFIG. 10, k is fixed to about 0.5 in a conventional intermediate phasecomposer. However, in the phase composer 1205 according to the presentinvention, k is controlled according to the output of the DCC integrator1209, to thus precisely correct a duty cycle.

Phase mixer 1205 may include various types such as a digital type, ananalog type, a differential type and a non-differential type. FIG. 13 isa circuit diagram illustrating an example of a phase mixer according toa non-differential method. As illustrated in FIG. 13, a phase mixer 1300may have an inverter type. A composition weight value varies accordingto signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb). Thus, it is possible to remove dutyerrors by controlling the signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) according to asituation. A PMOS transistor MP132 and an NMOS transistor MN 131 form aninverter for the clock signal clk1. A PMOS transistor MP134 and an NMOStransistor MN133 form an inverter for the clock signal clk2.

When the output clock clkout is fed back and is provided to the DCCintegrator 1209, the DCC integrator 1209 integrates the output clockclkout, to thus generate the signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) representingthe duty cycle of the output clock clkout, and provides the signalsV_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) to a phase mixer 1301. In the phase mixer 1301, thesignal V_(DCC) is provided to the gate of the NMOS transistor NM132 forthe clock clk1 and is provided to the gate of the PMOS transistor MP133for the clock clk2. Meanwhile, the signal V_(DCCb) is provided to thegate of the PMOS transistor MP131 for the clock clk1 and is provided tothe gate of the NMOS transistor MN134 for the clock clk2. Therefore, forexample, when the signal V_(DCC) is larger than the signal V_(DCCb) asillustrated in FIG. 4B, the output signal clkout close to the phase ofthe clock clk1 passes through a node N1. As the signal V_(DCC) is largerthan the signal V_(DCCb), the phase of the output signal clkout iscloser to the phase of the clock clk1. When the signal V_(DCCb) islarger than the signals V_(DCC), the output signal clkout close to thephase of the clock clk2 comes out.

FIG. 14A is a block diagram of another embodiment, in which a phasemixer controller is added to the DCC loop of FIG. 13. FIG. 14B is acircuit diagram of an example of a phase mixer controller. FIG. 14C is acircuit diagram of an example of a phase mixer. As noted from FIG. 14A,the output signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) of the DCC integrator 1209 arenot directly provided to the phase mixer 1205 as illustrated in FIG. 12but are provided to a phase mixer controller 1401. The phase mixercontroller 1401 receives the signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb), generates newsignals VP1, VN1, VP2, and VN2 by appropriately converting the signalsV_(DCC) and V_(DCCb) as needed, and provides the new signals VP1, VN1,VP2, and BN2 to the phase mixer 1205. By doing so, it is possible toadopt more various types of phase mixer. The phase mixer controller 1401is a circuit that varies according to the used phase mixer 1205. Thephase mixer controller illustrated in FIG. 14B is only an example. Aphase mixer 1400 c illustrated in FIG. 14C is the same as a circuit 1300of FIG. 13 excluding that the signals VP1, VN1, VP2, and VN2 are usedinstead of the signals V_(DCC) and V_(DCCb).

FIG. 15A is a block diagram of another embodiment, in which a smallswing buffer is added to the DCC loop of FIG. 14. FIG. 15B is a circuitdiagram of a small swing buffer. As illustrated in FIG. 15A, the outputclock clkout is not directly provided to the DCC integrator 1209 but isprovided via a small swing buffer 1501. In FIG. 15A, the output clockclkout is a non-differential signal that full swings between a powersource voltage VDD and a ground voltage VSS. Because the DCC integrator1209 is an analog circuit, when a full swinging signal is received, itis not difficult to maintain linearity. Therefore, it is preferable toreduce a swing width by inserting the small swing buffer 1501 asillustrated in FIG. 15A. In FIG. 15B, a simple type where the input andthe output of an inverter INV are connected through a resistor R isillustrated. In this case, the swing width is reduced as a resistancevalue is reduced. Various small swing buffers exist, for example, asmall swing buffer using an analog circuit such as a source followeramplifier.

FIG. 16A is a block diagram of still another embodiment where adifferential DCC integrator is used for the DCC loop of FIG. 15. FIG.16B is a circuit diagram of an example of a phase splitter of FIG. 16A.In the DCC integrator, in order to remove influences such as noise, itis preferable to use a differential circuit. Because the output clockclkout is a non-differential signal, a DLL circuit 1600 a makes theoutput clock clkout differential signals CO and COb using a phasesplitter 1601 and provides the differential signals CO and COb to adifferential DCC integrator 1603. Because the differential DCCintegrator 1603 is a well-known circuit, detailed description thereofwill be omitted. As illustrated in FIG. 16B, the phase splitter mayinclude a passgate 1605 and an inverter 1607. It is important to reducea delay difference between the passgate 1605 and the inverter 1607 for acorrect phase split operation. Also, as previously illustrated inrelation to FIG. 15, in order to maintain linearity, it is preferable toreduce swing of an output clock from the phase splitter using smallswing buffers 1609 and 1611 and to provide the output clock to the DCCintegrator 1603. Therefore, when a phase splitter 1600 b illustrated inFIG. 16B is used, a non-differential signal changes the output clockclkout to the differential signals CO and COb of small swing andprovides the differential signals CO and COb to the differential DCCintegrator 1603.

FIG. 17 is a circuit diagram of another embodiment of the phase splitterin FIG. 16. In FIG. 17, when an input signal IN is at a high level, anNMOS transistor MN171 and a PMOS transistor MP172 and an NMOS transistorMN174 and a PMOS transistor MP174 are turned on. Therefore, an outputOUT outputs a high level signal. An output OUTb outputs a low levelsignal. When the input signal IN is at a low level, a PMOS transistorMP172 and an NMOS transistor MN172 and a PMOS transistor MP173 and anNMOS transistor MN173 are turned on. Accordingly, the output OUT outputsa low level signal. The output OUTb outputs a high level signal. Thatis, a phase splitter 1700 outputs the differential signals OUT and OUTbthat change according to the level of the input signal IN. The phasesplitter 1700 can create a desirable differential signal only bycontrolling the values of a transistor and an inverter.

FIG. 18 is a modification using a phase mixer of a differential methodin the DCC loop of FIG. 12. FIG. 18A is a block diagram when only aphase mixer is operating according to a differential method. FIG. 18B isa block diagram when a phase mixer and a buffer are all operatingaccording to a differential method. FIG. 18C is a circuit diagram of thephase mixer according to the differential method. In the aboveembodiments, a phase mixer 1801 uses the non-differential signals clk1and clk2 as inputs. However, in the present embodiment, the phase mixer1801 uses the differential signals clk1, clkb1, clk2, and clkb2 asinputs. A buffer 1803 receives the differential outputs OUT and OUTb ofthe phase mixer 1801 and generates the non-differential signal clkout.Meanwhile, a buffer 1805 generates the differential signals clkout andclkoutb.

As illustrated in FIG. 18C, the signal V_(DCC) from the DCC integrator1209 and 1603 is provided to the gate of an NMOS transistor 1807 andcontrols current kI, to thus determine a degree to which the phases ofthe clocks clk1 and clkb1, provided by the first DLL, affect the phasesof the output clocks OUT and OUTb. Meanwhile, the signal V_(DCCb) isprovided to the gate of an NMOS transistor 1809 and controls current(1−k)I, to thus determine a degree to which the phases of the clocksclk2 and clkb2, provided by the second DLL, affect the phases of theoutput clocks OUT and OUTb. For example, when the signal V_(DCC) islarger than the signal V_(DCCb), the phases of the output clocks OUT andOUTb follow the phases of the clocks clk1 and clkb1. When the signalV_(DCCb) is larger than the signal V_(DCC), the phases of the outputclocks OUT and OUTb follow the phases of the clocks clk2 and clkb2.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

According to the present invention, the first conventional method ofperforming DCC using the two DLLs and the intermediate phase composer iscombined with the second conventional method of performing DCC byforming a closed loop using a negative feedback. Therefore, it ispossible to adopt the advantages of the two methods. That is, accordingto the DLL circuit of the present invention, it is possible to obtain alocking time longer than in the first method but shorter than in thesecond method. Also, according to the DLL of the present invention, itis possible to obtain correctness as high as the correctness of thesecond method. Also, according to the DLL of the present invention,applicable bandwidth can be wider in comparison to the two conventionalmethods.

1. A DLL circuit with a DCC function, comprising: a first DLL forreceiving an external clock signal and generating a first clock signalsynchronized with the external clock signal; a second DLL for receivingan external clock signal and generating a second clock signalsynchronized with the external clock signal; a phase mixing circuit forreceiving the first and second clock signals and a phase mixing weightcontrol signal and mixing the phase of the first clock signal with thephase of the second clock signal according to the phase mixing weightcontrol signal and for generating an output clock signal; and a DCCintegration circuit for receiving and integrating the output clocksignal, generating an integration value signal, and providing theintegration value to the phase mixing circuit as the phase mixing weightcontrol signal.
 2. The DLL circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesecond clock signal is an inverted signal of the first clock signal. 3.The DLL circuit as claimed in claim 1, wherein a start edge of a levelhaving a duty of (50−Δ)% in the first clock signal and a start edge of alevel having a duty of (50+Δ)% in the second clock signal are generatedat the same point of time.
 4. The DLL circuit as claimed in claim 1,further comprising a phase mixing control circuit for receiving theintegration value signal, converting the integration value signal by apredetermined method, generating a converted integration value signal,and providing the converted integration value signal to the phase mixingcircuit as the phase mixing weight control signal.
 5. The DLL circuit asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a small swing buffer forreceiving the output clock signal, reducing swing width of the outputclock signal, generating a small swing output clock signal, andproviding the small swing output clock signal to the DCC integrationcircuit as an output clock signal.
 6. The DLL circuit as claimed inclaim 5, wherein the swing buffer is formed of an inverter whose inputport and output port are connected to a resistor.
 7. The DLL circuit asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the swing buffer is formed of a sourcefollower amplifier.
 8. The DLL circuit as claimed in claim 1, furthercomprising a first phase splitter for receiving the output clock signaland generating a first phase-split output clock signal and a secondphase-split output clock signal having a phase difference of 180°;wherein the DCC integration circuit is a differential circuit forreceiving and integrating the first and second phase split output clocksignal.
 9. The DLL circuit as claimed in claim 8, further comprising: afirst small swing buffer receiving the first phase splitted output clocksignal, reducing swing width of the first phase splitted output clocksignal, and providing the first phase splitted output clock signal as aninput of the DCC integration circuit; and a second small swing bufferfor receiving the second phase splitted output clock signal, reducingswing width of the second phase splitted output clock signal, andproviding the second phase splitted output clock signal as another inputof the DCC integration circuit.
 10. The DLL circuit of claim 1, furthercomprising: a second phase splitter for receiving the first clock signaland generating a third clock signal and a fourth clock signal having aphase difference of 180°; and a third phase splitter for receiving thesecond clock signal and generating a fifth clock signal and a sixthclock signal having a phase difference of 180°; wherein the phase mixingcircuit is a differential circuit for receiving the third to sixth clocksignals and mixing phases with each other.